


Pearls and Perfection: A Collection

by daretogobeyondtheunknown



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 14:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11808099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daretogobeyondtheunknown/pseuds/daretogobeyondtheunknown





	1. Chapter 1

All her life, Veronica had been afforded the luxury of travel.

By the time she was twelve she had visited more countries than the average person could recite from geography class. Her father always believed in first hand knowledge and as Veronica lounged in the JW Marriott Marquis sipping virgin daiquiris, it was difficult to disagree.

When things tumbled down hill and the legal allegations began pouring in, Veronica wondered if true success came at the cost of others. As her mother pulled her away, back to a life in Riverdale she could hardly recall, Veronica dreamt of prison bars, tacky jumpsuits and broken promises.

It would takes years to erase the slandered image and how it marred across her very definition of success.

Betty Cooper was like the first time Veronica could remember take off: her heart raced, her stomach fluttered, and all she wanted was more.

Riverdale was no New York and everywhere Veronica looked, marks of Betty lingered. It was fate, she told Archie, and without a shadow of a doubt, Veronica believed. What she didn’t mention was how it made her knees feel weak or her heart flutter.

Cheering gave Veronica an excuse. An excuse for what, it never mattered, but Veronica always found a way. It was easy to slip Betty away with claims of practicing cheer or pointers on mundane math equations or boring physics assignments.

It never mattered that Veronica had long finished the traditional high school curriculum. Or that her attendance had been at her mother’s insistence. Something about making friends and how it would be nice to just be normal.

Veronica doubted she’d ever truly be normal.

But normal, perhaps, gave her Riverdale. In turn, Riverdale gave Veronica Elizabeth Cooper. A steep price, perhaps, without the constant incoming and outgoing hum of plane engines or the boutiques littered throughout. It came without her personal garden and without the luxury of her personal assistant. It felt steep. 

Yet, Veronica knew, Betty was priceless. A gift she could never truly buy. Far greater than sipping on virgin daiquiris in the JW Marriott Marquis, flying private with her father, or standing atop the Eiffel Tower, wind licking her skin.


	2. Chapter 2

The pearls were a bit much Betty thought as she collapsed back into the grass. It was cold, marked by the morning dew. But against her skin - afire from the over the top expectations of Cheryl Blossom - it was welcomed.

  
“Oh come now, don’t act like that. It was hardy that bad.”

  
“Tell me that after you have Cheryl and her personal vendettas working against you,” Betty moaned as she rolled onto her side and curled in upon herself, “I hurt in places I shouldn’t hurt and none of it makes sense!”

  
When Veronica laughed it reminded Betty of the balm her grandmother used to apply when Betty struggled to breath and tears welled in her eyes. It was soothing, relaxing her muscles with an initial warmth that would end with a lingering chill.

  
“I have a feeling you’ll live. The Betty Cooper I know is tenacious - among other things.”

  
“Hardly,” Betty mumbled into the grass, ears tinged pink and heart fluttering in a manner unconnected to the River Vixen’s practice.

  
“Stop muttering into the grass and hurry up. I want a milkshake and an order those onion rings. My treat.”

  
It felt normal - the banter, grabbing milkshakes at the Chock’lit Shoppe, seeing Veronica in those gorgeous pearls regardless of her attire. And yet, Veronica had only waltzed into her life four weeks prior all dark flowing cape and otherworldly ambiance.

  
“You sure know how to woo a girl, don’t you?” Betty remarked with a blossoming smile, her eyes rolling affectionately at the self assured pose.

  
“I knew you’d see my way.”

  
The wink accompanied by a look Betty struggled to place made her flush. It implied all the wrong things and made her stomach coil in the most unsuspecting of ways.

  
“That- I didn’t-”

  
When the arm tugged at her side, Betty collapsed instantly, folding like a cheap tent into Veronica’s side. It hardly proved her point but Veronica always smelt so nice and she felt a little bit like what Betty imagined home should feel like - how it used to feel like.

  
“I’ll make you see my ways, Betty Cooper. Just you wait. But until then, milkshakes. This morning was just awful.”

  
As she followed Veronica’s lead, Betty smiled. It just felt right or like Veronica would say like they were meant to be; destiny.

  
“So you admit it - practice was awful?”

  
“I said no such thing.”

  
Stumbling to keep pace, Betty permitted the confusion to shine through her tone and press into her brow, “But you said…”

  
As Veronica held open the gymnasium door, the coy curl to her lips and the flutter of her lashes were distracting. Betty felt her axis tilt and her body sway as her feet caught on one another.

  
“Careful there, honey, I know I’m stunning but there’s no need to be falling. And I know what I said. I said morning. No sane human should ever see the sun rise. It can’t be ethical.”

  
Held afloat by Veronica’s embrace, Betty nodded diligently. Veronica might have confessed to murder and Betty would have agreed. All she hoped was that Veronica would never let go.

  
But God, the pearls were still too much for the cotton River Vixen uniform.


End file.
